Thread by @MatthewBevan

Last night I flicked on SBS and there was a show on about the London Crossrail project. I like rail infrastructure so I decided to watch it for a bit. I had to turn it off after 10 minutes.

The series producers seemed ridiculously obsessed with trying to inject drama into the thing. They tried to imply that every slight delay was potentially catastrophic and every single movement had the real potential to go horribly wrong.

Installing the glass door panels on the platform:
"ONE WRONG MOVE AND THEY COULD SHATTER!"
"PUT IT IN SLIGHTLY THE WRONG PLACE AND A TRAIN COULD HIT IT"

Putting an exhaust fan in:
"THIS IS THE BIGGEST PIECE OF MACHINERY INVOLVED IN THE OPERATION AND IF IT IS PUT IN WRONG AND THERE'S A FIRE EVERYONE COULD SUFFOCATE AND DIE"

In every single step of the process we had to be reminded:
"ONE WRONG MOVE AND THE PROJECT COULD BE SET BACK MONTHS"
"A SLIGHT BREAKDOWN IN COMMUNICATION AND THEY COULD BE LEFT FOR HOURS WITHOUT THE MATERIALS THEY NEED"

The engineers working on the project were clearly too relaxed for the TV producers. Every piece to camera they had to be cajoled into trying to make it more dramatic.

The truth is London has been building underground railways since 1854. These underground rail projects are INCREDIBLY intricately planned, with contingencies upon contingencies to make sure it all comes together roughly on time.

Additionally, every single aspect of the system will be tested hundreds of times before a passenger enters the tunnels. Literally hundreds of trains will run along the track before the public is let in to make sure it's alright. Chill the hell out TV people.